


The World's A Beast Of A Burden (Oh, Poor Atlas)

by joidianne4eva



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-16
Updated: 2017-09-16
Packaged: 2018-12-30 13:28:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12109719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joidianne4eva/pseuds/joidianne4eva
Summary: It was raining, the droplets leaving tiny tracks as they slapped against the window. His ma had always said the rain was a sign of change, of birth and Jesse could almost feel her hand on his shoulder as he met the man’s eyes.“I don’t owe society shit but I don’t hurt people who don’t deserve it,” he whispered.The man stared at him for a while before he chuckled. “I hear you,” he replied as he stood but Jesse wasn’t looking at him, he was focused on the rain.





	The World's A Beast Of A Burden (Oh, Poor Atlas)

**Author's Note:**

> First thing in this fandom, written in an hour and not checked.

Despite what the other guys liked to joke and say, Jesse wasn’t stupid. He knew when he was beat and right now he was beyond beat…he was officially fucked. Didn’t mean he was going to go down easy but that wasn’t stupidity that was just pride.

Bracing his tongue against the loose tooth his actions had just gotten him, Jesse eyed the man sitting across from him.

He hadn’t identified himself, not like the blond guy who’d come in like he expected Jesse to be in awe of him, like Deadlock had been hidden so far under a rock that they wouldn’t know the great Jack Morrison’s face.

Jesse still wasn’t sure what had made him head-butt the man, it was a tossup between the way he’d talked to Jesse like he was fucking stupid and the fact that Morrison had obviously expected nothing good of him.

Jesse hadn’t wanted to make a liar of him…that was all.

The new guy wasn’t a face Jesse knew. He’d tried his usual taunts and when that hadn’t worked he’d lobbed his cup at the man’s face which had in turn earned him a vicious backhand that left his ears ringing and the fucker still hadn’t said anything.

“You supposed to be psychic or somethin’?” Jesse finally demanded. “Gonna read my mind?” he tacked on just for spite.

The man just crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat, eyeing Jesse like the answer should have been obvious.

“I know I’m fuckin’ pretty but that ain’t no reason for you to keep eyeballing me,” Jesse muttered sullenly after another long moment of silence.

“Just waiting for you to finish your tantrum,” the man responded and Jesse glowered at him.

“The fuck do you want?” he demanded because he wasn’t stupid, these guys held all the cards. He was either going to the slammer or the morgue. It didn’t really matter to him, one way or another he was fucked.

“I want to make you a deal,” the man offered up, his smile a shock of white against his dark skin and Jesse wondered if this was what it felt like to be face to face with a great white.

“Don’t I get a lawyer?” Jesse taunted, “I mean if you’re gonna fuck me over least you could is do that shit proper like.”

“You think this is me fucking you over?” the man chuckled, reaching into his pocket and Jesse’s muscles tensed, his fingers itching for the familiar feel of his gun but the man just pulled out a tape recorder, his smirk widening when Jesse frowned at him.

A flick of his finger had a familiar voice filling the room and Jesse’s stomach roiled with each word.

**_“Thought the kid was a mistake at first. Couldn’t do shit other than trail after his Pa like a starving dog but put a gun in his hand and he could shoot the fur of a coyote and it wouldn’t feel nothin’ but the breeze.”_ **

The recorder clicked off and Jesse met the man’s eyes finding something there that looked a lot like pity.

“Do you want to guess where this is all going?” he asked, sighing when Jesse just gritted his teeth. “Every person they’ve killed is being pinned on you and right now I can’t do a damn thing to help you.”

“Ain’t gonna rat them out,” Jesse spat and the man nodded.

“I’m not asking you to. What I’m doing is offering you a way to work off your debts to society somewhere that isn’t a prison cell but I don’t hire murderers.”

Jesse swallowed, his gaze flickering to the window above the man’s head.

It was raining, the droplets leaving tiny tracks as they slapped against the window. His ma had always said the rain was a sign of change, of birth and Jesse could almost feel her hand on his shoulder as he met the man’s eyes.

“I don’t owe society shit but I don’t hurt people who don’t deserve it,” he whispered.

The man stared at him for a while before he chuckled. “I hear you,” he replied as he stood but Jesse wasn’t looking at him, he was focused on the rain.

*O*

“Do I even want to know?”

Reyes’ voice made Jesse flinch. For someone so big the man moved like a fucking cat…if Jesse hadn’t valued his life he might have suggested a bell.

Glancing up at his commander, Jesse grinned like he wasn’t sitting in a downpour.

“Just on my break, boss,” he replied, positively beaming when Reyes’ eyes flickered over him, from the hair that was plastered to his face down to his soaked boots.

“There a reason why you’re trying to catch pneumonia?”

Jesse shrugged, “Just like the rain is all. We didn’t get much of it when…” he trailed off with a shrug. “What we did get was usually floods. It’s nice to sit in some that ain’t trying to kill me or freeze me to death.”

Reyes hummed at that but when he didn’t say anything else Jesse glanced back at him only to find the man cross-legged on the floor, just out of reach of the rain splatter.

“Sir, what the heck…I mean, don’t you have some important shit to go do?” Jesse spluttered.

Reyes cocked a brow at him as he tugged out his tablet, “I’m just enjoying my break,” he shot back, tossing Jesse’s own words back at him. “You got a problem with that?”

Jesse inhaled on a laugh, “No problem at all.”

“Good but just remember that if you catch anything I’m stabbing you with the needle myself.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way, boss,” Jesse replied.

*O*

Jesse joined Blackwatch to pay back his supposed debts to society, to prove that he could be half the man his ma had thought he could. He hadn’t joined for this.

His steps were heavy, feet barely leaving the ground as he walked away from his debriefing with Morrison’s words still ringing in his head.

They’d done a good job…the politician was home, safe and sound even though he should never have been there in the first place…should never have fucking needed rescuing.

There’d be medals…but not for the people who fucking deserved it, not for the ones down in the mud just for the heroes who had the right look, the right life…the ones you wouldn’t flinch away from in a back alley.

There’d always be casualties…but it should never have been her, not for Jesse, he wasn’t fucking worth it; none of them were fucking worth it.

He didn’t realize he was outside until the first drop of rain slid down his face and by the time the heavens had fully opened, Jesse couldn’t tell his tears from the raindrops.

His fingers tightened around the guns, his own held in a familiar grip but the other was Reyes’, shoved into his hand as Reyes tried to save…

Jesse clenched his eyes shut but that didn’t stop the tears.

He’d left his hat there, had placed it on her head because she deserved it, she hadn’t even been one of theirs….he didn’t even fucking know her name but she’d stepped into spray of bullets for him, hadn’t hesitated as she shoved him to the ground and Jesse didn’t even know her name.

He’d gotten them though, time slowing as deadeye found every last one of the fuckers but their blood wasn’t enough to wash hers of his hands.

The feeling of something on his head had Jesse’s eyes snapping open, trying to focus through the blur of tears and water just in time to watch Reyes drape his hoodie over Jesse’s shoulders and it was only then that he realised that the thing on his head was probably the Commander’s beanie.

Jesse couldn’t say what made him step forward and press his face to the man’s shoulder but Reyes didn’t push him away, didn’t do anything but curl his fingers around the hand still holding his gun.

Later Jesse wouldn’t be able to tell if the ghost of touch on his back had been from Reyes or if it had been the rain.

*O*

It was raining again and Jesse couldn’t help but laugh despite the guns pointed at his face because he’d known it’d come to this, had known since the day he’d seen Reaper sweeping through what was left of Overwatch.

“These the needles you were threatening me with?” Jesse asked, staring at the other man, his own gun hanging heavy at his side.

“Run,” Reaper snarled but Jesse just laughed again, the tinge of hysteria loud in the sound despite the rumble of thunder.

“Done enough of that,” Jesse retorted, raising both hands. “Go on, do it. Shoot me.”

Reaper’s guns shook or maybe that was just the rain but Jesse was tired of running, tired of not being enough…he hadn’t been enough to make Gabriel walk away from Blackwatch, hadn’t been enough to save the man who’d saved him more time than he could count.

Lightning arched across the sky over their heads, making the shadows around Reaper swell for a second and it felt a lot like atonement as the guns pressed against Jesse’s skin.

Lightning struck and the loud rumble of thunder shook the ground but it wasn’t loud enough to block out of the sound of two gunshots.

*O*

Jesse watched Gabriel from the doorway, shaking his head at the man when Gabriel made no move to get out of the rain.

“If you track mud in here, I’m gonna shoot you,” he warned as he leaned against the doorframe.

Gabriel turned his head towards him and Jesse took in the mismatched eyes and the faint pucker of healing skin that shifted across Gabriel’s left cheek. The wounds were both real and psychosomatic, ebbing and flowing with Gabriel’s moods though the lack of shadows gathered around his feet said that today was a good day.

“Heard that threat before,” Gabriel snorted, holding out a hand towards him and Jesse didn’t hesitate as he laced their fingers together, letting Gabriel tug him down onto his lap.

The rain soaked through his thick shirt but he was more focused on the heat radiating from the man below him.

“You trying to steal my thing?” Jesse inquired.

“Just trying to get you wet,” Gabriel responded, cackling when Jesse tried to tug his beanie down over his face.

“You’re fuckin’ awful, you know that?” Jesse spluttered as Gabriel tried to get his curls back under control.

“You still love me,” he pointed out and Jesse shrugged.

“What can I say? I’ve got good taste.”

“I love you too…even if your rain fetish is fucking weird.”

“It’s not a fetish, asshole,” Jesse protested, his words dying away when Gabriel tugged him down into a kiss that managed to knock Jesse’s hat off of his head but neither of them noticed.

They didn’t notice the rainbow overhead either.


End file.
